A CRITIQUE OF “BLUE LIKE JAZZ” By Dr. Mike Powell Blue Like Jazz , written by Donald Miller, has sold more than a million copies and is currently being made into a movie, set for release in the spring of 2009. Campus Crusade for Christ and other campus ministries are distributing the book nationwide as a part of their freshman survival kits. I appreciate the author’s transparency about his own struggles, failures and doubts. He addresses many critical issues concerning modern Christianity and provides a number of helpful insights. The author is concerned about many of the same things I am concerned about in the modern evangelical church. 1. Areas Where I Believe That The Author Is “Right On” a. He is reacting against an impersonal legalistic Christianity. Sunday school classes did much to help us memorize commandments and little to teach us who God was and how to relate to Him. 4 For me . there was a mental wall between religion and God. I could walk around inside religion and never on any sort of emotional level, understand that God was a person, an actual Being with thoughts and feelings and that sort of thing. To me, God was more of an idea. It was something like a slot machine . that dolled out reward based on behavior and, perhaps chance. 8 . the devil tries so hard to get Christians to be religious. If he can sink a man’s mind into habit, he will prevent his heart from engaging God. 13 b. He recognizes our fallen nature. Because of sin, because I am self-addicted, living in the wreckage of the fall, my body, my heart, and my affections are prone to love things that kill me . Jesus gives us the ability to love the things we should love, the things of Heaven . I found myself trying to love the right things without God’s help and it was impossible . my natural desire was to love darkness. 77 I realized that I desired false gods because Jesus wouldn’t jump through my hoops, and I realized that . my faith was about image and ego, not about practicing spirituality. 94 c. He, in places, seems to realize that life is about God, not us. God is not here to worship me, to mold Himself into something that will help me fulfill my level of comfort. 92 d. He is strongly opposed to hypocritical Christianity. what I believe is not what I say I believe; what I believe is what I do . If I do not introduce people to Jesus, then I don’t believe Jesus is an important person. 110 I don’t think any church has ever been relevant to culture, to the human struggle, unless it believed in Jesus and the power of His gospel. If the supposed new church believes in trendy music and cool Web pages, then it is not relevant to culture either. It is just another tool of Satan to get people to be passionate about nothing. 111 The answer to problems was not marketing or program, but rather spirituality. If we needed to reach youth, we wouldn’t do a pizza feed and a game night, we would get together and pray and fast and ask God what to do. 136 e. He opposes mixing right-wing conservative politics and religion. The churches I attended would embrace the war metaphor . only they wouldn’t clarify . They left us thinking that our war was against liberals and homosexuals . The truth is we are supposed to love the hippies, the liberals, and even the Democrats. 132 The church has lost touch with people who didn’t know about Jesus . we needed to repent and start loving people who were very different from us . 135 . as representatives of the grace and love of God, our communication should be seasoned with love and compassion. 183 When the church does not love its enemies, it fuels their rage. It makes them hate us more. 219 In spite of the good things I find in the book, I am concerned about some of the beliefs, attitudes, and impressions that it might leave with young and undiscerning Christians. Some may say that this is only a story of Donald Miller’s personal journey and should not be taken as a theological treatise. Miller however has chosen to approvingly include statements and situations that can be harmful and misleading. There are several areas that I am concerned about. 2. Areas I Am Concerned About a. Blue Like Jazz presents an unbalanced view of God. Miller writes : “I never liked it when the preacher said we had to follow Jesus. Sometimes they would make Him sound angry. .” 34 However, both the Old and New Testaments clearly teach that God is not only loving, He is also angry. 2 Chronicles 36:16 . the wrath of the LORD arose against His people, until there was no remedy. John 3:36 "He who believes in the Son has eternal life; but he who does not obey the Son will not see life, but the wrath of God abides on him." Romans 1:18 For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, Romans 2:5 But because of your stubbornness and unrepentant heart you are storing up wrath for yourself in the day of wrath and revelation of the righteous judgment of God , Ephesians 5:6 Let no one deceive you with empty words, for because of these things the wrath of God comes upon the sons of disobedience. Revelation 19:15 From His mouth comes a sharp sword, so that with it He may strike down the nations, and He will rule them with a rod of iron; and He treads the wine press of the fierce wrath of God , the Almighty. 2 b. Blue Like Jazz has an unbiblical view of the nature of mankind. Miller writes: “Jesus didn’t just love me out of principle; He didn’t just love me because it was the right thing to do. Rather, there was something inside me that caused Him to love me.” (p. 238). The Bible doesn’t teach that God loves us because He finds something good in us. The Bible teaches that there is nothing in us that is lovable. Romans 7:18 For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. Jeremiah 17:9 "The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? Romans 3:10-18 as it is written, "THERE IS NONE RIGHTEOUS, NOT EVEN ONE; 11 THERE IS NONE WHO UNDERSTANDS, THERE IS NONE WHO SEEKS FOR GOD; 12 ALL HAVE TURNED ASIDE, TOGETHER THEY HAVE BECOME USELESS; THERE IS NONE WHO DOES GOOD, THERE IS NOT EVEN ONE." 13 "THEIR THROAT IS AN OPEN GRAVE, WITH THEIR TONGUES THEY KEEP DECEIVING," "THE POISON OF ASPS IS UNDER THEIR LIPS"; 14 "WHOSE MOUTH IS FULL OF CURSING AND BITTERNESS"; 15 "THEIR FEET ARE SWIFT TO SHED BLOOD, 16 DESTRUCTION AND MISERY ARE IN THEIR PATHS, 17 AND THE PATH OF PEACE THEY HAVE NOT KNOWN." 18 "THERE IS NO FEAR OF GOD BEFORE THEIR EYES." Hebrews 2:6 . ."WHAT IS MAN, THAT YOU REMEMBER HIM? OR THE SON OF MAN, THAT YOU ARE CONCERNED ABOUT HIM? Cf Psalm 53:2-3; Isaiah 64:6 God loves us in spite of how bad we are. Romans 5:7-8 For one will hardly die for a righteous man; though perhaps for the good man someone would dare even to die. 8 But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Cf Ephesians 2:1-9 God loves us because it is His nature to love. (Cf 1 John 4:8; Psalm 86:15) If God saves us based on something good He sees in us, then our salvation is not based solely on His grace, but on our value. An unbiblical view of mankind leads to a confused message of salvation. c. Blue Like Jazz presents a confused gospel. The author does on rare occasion deal with the issue of sin. I had already come to believe that Jesus was who He said He was, that Jesus was God. this time I just prayed and asked God to forgive me. And that is when I became a Christian. 49 In most places however the book presents a confusing gospel. 3 (It teaches that the gospel is about felt needs and being rescued from Satan.) When I understood that the decision the hostages had to make to follow their rescuer, I knew then that I needed to decide whether or not I would follow Him. The decision was simple once I asked myself, Is Jesus the Son of God, are we being held captive in a world run by Satan, a world filled with brokenness, and do I believe Jesus can rescue me from this condition? 34 Is the gospel message simply that we are being held captive by Satan and have to decide whether to follow a rescuer? (Rick) didn’t really see evangelism . as a target on a wall in which the goal is to get people to agree with us about the meaning of life. He saw evangelism as reaching a felt need. 114 Is the gospel really about reaching a “felt need” ? The message is that man sinned against God and God gave the world over to man, and that if somebody wanted to be rescued out of that, if somebody for instance finds it all very empty, that Christ will rescue them if they want; that if they ask forgiveness for being a part of that rebellion then God will forgive them.